We All Need Written Goals
In a successful business, goal setting is critical. It is
proven that successful people have one thing in common. They set goals. In his book “What they Don’t Teach you in the
Harvard Business School,” Mark McCormack covers a study that was conducted at the
Harvard Business School in 1979. The
students were asked, “Have you set clear, written goals for your future and
made plans to accomplish them?” Only 3% of
the graduates had written goals and plans.
13% had goals, but they were not in writing, and 84% had no specific
goals
10 years afterward, the class members were interviewed a second time. The results were amazing. The 13% who had goals earned, on average, two times as much as the 84% who had no goals at all. The 3% who had written their goals down earned, on average, ten times as much as the other 97% combined. This exhibits the power of the written goal! But even though this proof of success exists, most do not have clear and concise goals toward which they work.
I have read that you can make excuses or you can make money, but you can’t make them both. There is truth to that. Make a change in your life. Do it today. Determine your goals. Write them down. You can’t arrive at your destination if you don’t know where you are going. Know where you want to go.
10 years afterward, the class members were interviewed a second time. The results were amazing. The 13% who had goals earned, on average, two times as much as the 84% who had no goals at all. The 3% who had written their goals down earned, on average, ten times as much as the other 97% combined. This exhibits the power of the written goal! But even though this proof of success exists, most do not have clear and concise goals toward which they work.
I have read that you can make excuses or you can make money, but you can’t make them both. There is truth to that. Make a change in your life. Do it today. Determine your goals. Write them down. You can’t arrive at your destination if you don’t know where you are going. Know where you want to go.
Starting with your goal setting can be simple. You know that you want to be somewhere else
in your business than where you are right now.
Otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this.
You also know what you have done in the past to get to the place you are
now. Where do you want to go in the
future? Do you have any entrepreneur ideas? It is up to you.
If you were planning a trip to Boise, Idaho, you would take out a map and start to plan the various roads you would take to get there. You would plan your overnight stops, make a list of all the clothes and belonging you want to take with you. You would determine how much money it will take to get there and how much money you will want to spend once you are there. You would budget gas, food and other items that came to mind.
The goals you set need to be realistic but they also should make you stretch beyond your comfort zone. These goals will give meaning to your short and long term activities.
One of the humorous but poignant quotes from Yogi Berra is, “If you don’t know where you are going you’ll end up someplace else.”
If you were planning a trip to Boise, Idaho, you would take out a map and start to plan the various roads you would take to get there. You would plan your overnight stops, make a list of all the clothes and belonging you want to take with you. You would determine how much money it will take to get there and how much money you will want to spend once you are there. You would budget gas, food and other items that came to mind.
The goals you set need to be realistic but they also should make you stretch beyond your comfort zone. These goals will give meaning to your short and long term activities.
One of the humorous but poignant quotes from Yogi Berra is, “If you don’t know where you are going you’ll end up someplace else.”
Goals Need to be Long Term
You need t realize that achieving your goals will not be
without some discouragement. You may
feel at times that you took two steps forward and three steps back. You will need to make some course corrections
on your trip to your destination. This
is normal, however. No battle plan survives
the first few skirmishes. The
marketplace will change, competition will change and you will need to make
changes as well.
Please realize that everything in your life will never be organized suitably for you to make a perfect start. As the tagline with Nike Logo says, “Just Do It
You may be familiar with one of the greatest motivational speakers, Zig Ziglar. In one of his books he says, “Go as far as you can see and when you get there you will always be able to see farther.
Please realize that everything in your life will never be organized suitably for you to make a perfect start. As the tagline with Nike Logo says, “Just Do It
You may be familiar with one of the greatest motivational speakers, Zig Ziglar. In one of his books he says, “Go as far as you can see and when you get there you will always be able to see farther.
Goals Need to be Specific
Being profitable is not a goal. Achieving $100,000 per month in revenues is not even specific
enough. You need to describe, in detail, the desired goal.
If you were building a new home and were talking to a general contractor, just think of the detail you would go into concerning the layout and number of rooms, the finishes and colors, the type of windows, the deck and on and on.
Be as specific with your personal and business goals as you would be with building a new house. Anyone who reads your goal should be able to visualize exactly what you want. You also, by the way, need to visualize them. You need to mentally see yourself and the achievement results.
If you were building a new home and were talking to a general contractor, just think of the detail you would go into concerning the layout and number of rooms, the finishes and colors, the type of windows, the deck and on and on.
Be as specific with your personal and business goals as you would be with building a new house. Anyone who reads your goal should be able to visualize exactly what you want. You also, by the way, need to visualize them. You need to mentally see yourself and the achievement results.
You Must be Committed
You need dedication to achieve your goals. No one else can achieve them for you. And you can’t count on anyone else to
motivate you to achieve them. It’s all
up to you. With the proper commitment
you can make the necessary changes in course along the way to end up at your
destination, achieving your goal. Going
back to our trip to Boise, base on weather conditions we may need to take another
route, we may have to drive slower for part of the trip, we might even have a
flat tire. But, all the while, we keep
in mind that we will end up in Boise.
Commit your goals to writing. Segment them by time periods such as daily, monthly, quarterly, yearly and even 3 or 5 years. In your planning, anticipate obstacles that you may encounter and think about how you will overcome them, if encountered. When things seem too overwhelming at any point in time just think of the old question, “How do you eat an elephant?” The answer is “One bit at a time.” It is usual to sometimes have to move toward your goal, one bite at a time. Do so and you will arrive at your destination of a successful online business.
Gary Youngberg
Commit your goals to writing. Segment them by time periods such as daily, monthly, quarterly, yearly and even 3 or 5 years. In your planning, anticipate obstacles that you may encounter and think about how you will overcome them, if encountered. When things seem too overwhelming at any point in time just think of the old question, “How do you eat an elephant?” The answer is “One bit at a time.” It is usual to sometimes have to move toward your goal, one bite at a time. Do so and you will arrive at your destination of a successful online business.
Gary Youngberg
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